Video: To the future of analytics with SQL Server, BI and Cortana Analytics Suite

If you think that description sounds like hype, you should watch the video of Jason Wilcox’s Foundational session at PASS as he presents fascinating examples that demonstrate how Microsoft’s data platform and Azure Machine Learning is making “The Future of Analytics” real today.

Wilcox discusses how advanced analytics has progressed to the point of discovering insights that you may not think to look for. These insights can lead in unexpected directions. Take the example of the elevator manufacturing company System Corp. Advanced analytics uncovered the surprising fact that patterns of elevator movement are an incredible predictor of whether a tenant will renew a lease because elevator usage spikes before they move out. In another case, Twitter discovered that the sentiments of tweets predict heart attack rates in various regions better than medical predictors. Says, Wilcox, “Insights are shockingly possible when you merge massive amounts of data.”

In the category of super cool, Wilcox discloses the amazing details behind Microsoft Research’s How Old Do I Look app. Find out how a single developer built this viral app in a few days using Azure as a service. Within three days, the app attracted 1.2 million visitors per hour, and so far 82 million unique visitors have uploaded 565 million images. The Azure cloud infrastructure for this popular app stretched automatically, scaling to 1,600 cores at the peak, without the need to pre-allocate anything.

Watch the video to find out the details of these and other fascinating examples. You’ll see live demonstrations of the power of SQL Server, Microsoft BI, Azure, and Cortana Analytics Suite.